


it’s just you and me (with the world beneath our feet)

by ninanana



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Eventual Romance, Fluff, M/M, bad description of food, hyungwon being soft as hell to kihyun and vice versa, restaurant patron to lovers, wingman minhyuk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-11-15 19:32:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18079577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninanana/pseuds/ninanana
Summary: Hyungwon looks up from his menu, and standing in front of him is the prettiest man he ever saw in his life. He knows that he might be exaggerating--although the man is indeed gorgeous--but it’s quite hard to think straight when his heart is doing a somersault.The unknown man wears a black apron with a sleeping Gudetama picture printed on it, and he flashes them a friendly smile. Hyungwon feels like he was struck by a flash of invisible lightning instead.**In which Hyungwon is a journalist who suffered from a writer block and Kihyun singlehandedly runs a restaurant and makes people fall in love with him through his food.





	it’s just you and me (with the world beneath our feet)

In retrospect, Hyungwon thinks he made a bad career choice.

 

He should’ve listened to his seniors when they told him to stay away from scoring a job as a media worker. That the working hour is indeed hellish, and the money is not worth it. Too bad the words flew over his 22-years-old self back then, as he was too full with idealism and an uncontrollable rage over the world.

 

Five years later, he really wished he didn’t make this choice back then. Now here he is, sitting inside his small cubicle and staring at his laptop with tired eyes, hoping that his article would write itself for once. It’s been 4 hours but he can’t even muster enough inspiration to write a good lead.  _ Pathetic,  _ he thinks to himself.

 

A knocking sound behind him makes Hyungwon loses his train of thought. When he turned his chair around, Jooheon, his coworker, was standing in front of his cubicle with a concerned expression.

 

“It’s already 10 p.m,” he said. “Why are you still here?”

 

“You know why,” Hyungwon gesturing to his laptop. “Mr. Kim rejected my article so I have to revise the lead. Why are you still here?”

 

“I left my lens filter and I went here to picked it up,” Jooheon furrowed his brows. “Haven’t you done that already? I remember that the last time you stayed late in the office was also because you have to revise an article. Or is it a different one?”

 

“It’s still the same one,” Hyungwon sighed. “He rejected it three times already. Saying it isn’t interesting enough for the readers or something,”

 

“Oh,” Jooheon frowned. “Well, it’s not healthy to overwork yourself. You have been staying in the office since this afternoon, it’s already past the working hour. You should go home and rest,” he said.

 

Hyungwon wants to tell him that there is a huge chance that he will keep stressing over his unfinished articles even when he’s home, and being home will make him even sadder since his flat is nothing but a huge empty space. 

 

But Jooheon looks genuinely concerned, and he’s right. So he shot him a weak smile in response.

 

“I will,” Hyungwon replied to him. “Be careful on your way home,”

 

“You too, Hyungwon. Take care,” he said before leaving.

  
  


****

 

As he rides the last subway train to home, Hyungwon wonders what makes his job become this difficult. Although he spends the last three months contemplating to resign and find a new job, he spent the last five years enjoying his job. Hell, he is a good writer and anyone in the newsroom can vouch for that.

 

He remembers Mr. Kim disappointed voice when he asked Hyungwon to revise his article for the third time.

 

“You can write better than this nonsense,” he said. Which is pretty devastating coming from Mr. Kim since he never received complaints from his senior editor before. 

 

And the saddest part is that Hyungwon can’t even argue with him because he’s right. That he can do better than generating a 600-words of bullcrap and call it a day. But everything in his life seems so dull nowadays, his job is not an exception. He used to love it, but it became a taxing chore now. He can’t even write a single line without hating himself. 

 

Hyungwon leaned his head on the train’s window. He is definitely the problem. If only he had been persistent enough to put an effort into anything, maybe his life will be better. 

 

When he arrived at his apartment, he was greeted with cold silence. His roommate, Minhyuk, moved out to live with his boyfriend a week ago and brought along some of the furniture that he had bought for the apartment. When Minhyuk was still around, he was usually still awake at this hour to play some games on his Xbox and greets Hyungwon loudly when he came home. Hyungwon still can’t get used of this newfound emptiness.

 

He plopped down to his bed without changing his clothes and scrolling through his phone. He got two messages from his mother, all of them was asking if he already ate. Hyungwon was in the middle of typing a short response to her when his stomach is grumbling loudly. He sit up and groaned. Minhyuk used to cook for both of them, even when his food didn’t taste ideal sometimes because he never following the recipes properly. But at least Hyungwon always had a warm meal to come home to. 

 

Unlike Minhyuk, Hyungwon is a shitty cooker. He regrets never learned how to cook when had a chance, and when he does try to learn, he never succeeded. Ever since his roommate slash best friend leaves, he relied on takeouts and instant foods. Which is not healthy, come to think of it, but he has no choice.

 

He opened his kitchen cabinet, takes out a cup of beef flavored instant rice, and poured hot water on it. After setting a timer, Hyungwon took a seat at his dining table and fishes out his mini notepad from his trouser’s pocket to see the list of topics he jotted down at the office.

  
  


_ More cinema review….newest Instagrammable spots in Seoul...unmasking the hidden truth behind busking culture… _

 

Hyungwon scratched his head in frustration. None of these looked appealing enough for the readers. Heck, even Hyungwon himself will be bored after reading the lead alone. He sighed and strike the first and third option from his list. Mr. Kim might give him hell for the Instagram listicle, but at least it will always attract the readers who need something simple to read at lunch.

 

The timer set off when he’s mulling about other possible topics he can present to Mr. Kim tomorrow morning. He scooped his spoon inside the cup and chewed on his rice absentmindedly. It doesn’t taste as good as real rice, but at least he got something to fill his stomach. 

 

Hyungwon looked down at the rest of his dinner with an empty glance. This isn’t satisfying. His life isn’t satisfying. He’s on the verge of a writing block, he needs to come up with something or his boss might have to fire him for being an incompetent reporter, and now he feels sad because he just ate a bowl of artificial rice for dinner. 

 

Hyungwon buried his head on his hands. “I cannot do this right now,” Hyungwon muttered from behind his palms. He stands up from his seat and tossed his empty rice cup on the bin. 

 

He spared a glance at his opened notepad on top of the table and decided to leave it for tomorrow. 

 

****

 

Mr. Kim stared at Hyungwon’s printed outline with a frown on his face.

 

“Really? Newest Instagrammable spots in Seoul?” the older man asked, his eyebrows raised high on his face.

 

Hyungwon entwines his fingers nervously. “Well, it could be always gain clicks for our online outlet,” he said. “And we can always attract younger readers that way--”

 

“Hyungwon, do you know what you are?” Mr. Kim cuts him off.

 

Before Hyungwon gets to answer him, his editor continues. “A feature writer. One of the best in our office, if I must add. Do you know what’s the difference between you and those reporters from cheap online media outlets who only know how to write their articles by copy-pasting celebrities’ SNS posts?”

 

“I’m not following sir,” Hyungwon answered with an unsure tone.

 

“That’s easy,” Mr. Kim stand from his seat and slammed his hands on top Hyungwon’s outline. “You don’t write cheap articles like them. You write something contextual. You write something that makes people follow them from the lead to the bottom of the article. You,” Mr. Kim pointed his finger at him. “You don’t write garbages,” 

 

Hyungwon is too afraid to say anything until Mr. Kim returned to his chair with a deep sigh.

 

“Do you know that your articles are my favorites?” Mr. Kim said. 

 

Hyungwon shakes his head.

 

“I even skipped the front page to go straight to your article. You always make anything sounds interesting. I remember when people laughed at you for wanting to write about sparkling water but it becomes our top five most read for weeks,” he explained, his tone softer than he was before less than a minute ago. 

 

“I can feel that you’re having fun writing those, and you channeled those feelings to the readers through your article,” he said. “But lately I didn’t see it anymore. What happened?” 

 

“I,” Hyungwon wanted to give him an answer, but his mind went blank all of a sudden. What makes him lose his sparks? What makes him stop enjoying things, and feeling his life slowly spiraling down into nothing but a boring, repetitive routine. Hyungwon has been questioning that to himself as well. 

 

“To be honest, I don’t know myself, sir,” he answered nervously.  _ I can’t even write without hating myself,  _ Hyungwon wants to add.

 

Mr. Kim looked at him with an unreadable expression. 

 

“Sometimes life didn’t always go on the way we want to,” he said. 

 

“There are some points in life where everything turns dull. It makes everything that we had been working on, things that we are trying to achieve, seems so useless. Sometimes it comes with a reason, sometimes it doesn’t. I understand.”

 

Mr. Kim took out his pen and wrote down a little note under Hyungwon’s outline. 

 

“Hyungwon, you are a great person. A great writer, too. I’m not expecting you to write a masterpiece every day, but I wish you can make peace with yourself and hopefully, bring back those joy to your writings,” he returned Hyungwon’s outline to him.

 

“Thank you, sir,” Hyungwon received his outline with shaky hands. “I’m so sorry for disappointing you.” 

 

Mr. Kim shook his head. “There are worse things you can do to disappoint me. Just get back on your feet soon, okay?”

 

“Yes, sir,” Hyungwon said.

 

He replied to his word with a smile. And remember,” he said. “If it’s an inspiration that you need, just look around, and you will find it somewhere.”

 

****

 

Hyungwon sighed as he gets out of his office. The conversation with Mr. Kim did lift up his mood a little bit, but his writer block still lingers and it makes him spending the rest of his day at the office feeling restless. 

 

Just as he stepped outside his office, his phone is buzzing. Hyungwon fished out his phone from his pocket and see Minhyuk’s name on the caller id.

 

“What’s up?” 

 

“ _ Are you still working?”  _

 

“No, I just got out from the office,” he said. 

 

“ _ Oh!”  _ Minhyuk exclaimed loudly over the phone. “ _ Come have dinner with me and Changkyun!” _

 

“Where?”

 

“ _ There is a good restaurant next to the train station down to your office. Do you wanna join us? We’re on our way there.” _

 

Hyungwon rubbed his chin. Changkyun has some kind of sixth sense that allows him to find good restaurants or cafes easily. And also, going home to eat his instant dinner alone sounds very sad right now after what’s happening today.

 

“Okay, sure. What’s the name of the place?”

 

“ _ It’s Haebalagi! You just need to walk to the right from the station’s gate,” _

 

“Noted. I’ll see you guys there,” 

 

“ _ Cool! See you!”  _ Minhyuk said before he hung up the phone.

 

Hyungwon looked at his phone with furrowed eyebrows. He rode the train from that station for five years now but he never heard of the restaurant. But come to think of it, Hyungwon never paid attention to anything around that busy train station except for its train that comes and goes.

 

Haebalagi, as like what its name suggested, is painted in a bright yellow color. When Hyungwon looked up, he was greeted by huge neon signage depicting a cheery sunflower on top of the restaurant’s name.

 

He wonders why he never notices the place since it’s so yellow and bright. Well, in his defense, this restaurant is squeezed between Starbucks and a big jewelry store.

 

But it’s such a pity that he hadn’t visited this place before since it looks so warm and comforting.  

 

The restaurant is small on the inside, and could only fit several tables and chairs, but it’s so cozy. Big sunflowers painting covered the right wall, along with framed pictures of various kind of flowers. When Hyungwon entered the restaurant, he found Minhyuk and Changkyun sat at one of the tables. It was dinner time, yet the restaurant is quite empty save for the three of them.

 

“Hey!” Minhyuk greets Hyungwon with a bright smile when he takes an empty seat next to him. Changkyun nods at him politely as well, and Hyungwon just returned their greetings with a polite smile.

 

“Here’s the menu,” Minhyuk passed the menu to him. “How’s work?”

 

“Ehhh, so-so,” Hyungwon said while flipping the menu absently. “How about you guys? How’s the animation project going?”

 

Minhyuk and Changkyun exchanged a tired glance and sighed at the same time.

 

“We have to work overtime for these past few days. Since we’re at the post-production phase, the production team have to audit the budget and this guy,” Changkyun rubbed Minhyuk’s shoulder, “have been drawing non-stop for three days now,”

 

Hyungwon quirked his eyebrows. “I thought your work is finished already? Didn’t you said you’re only in-charge for making the storyboard?”

 

Minhyuk sighed. “Yeah, it’s for a freelance project. I regret taking it now,” he buried his head inside his palms. “I swear to God, if I have to draw another bunny I will vomit,”

 

Hyungwon patted his friend’s arm sympathetically. “At least it will be over soon,” he said. “Hey, why is this place so empty? Where are the waiters?”

  
  


Changkyun chuckled. “This place just opened thirty minutes ago. Only one person runs it actually, and he’s preparing something at the back earlier.”

 

Hyungwon stared at him in confusion. “What? But it’s already 8.30 p.m,” he looked at his watch. “There are no other waiters in here? Is that even possible? How come?”

 

“Well, in this restaurant, it does,” Changkyun chuckled. “This place only opened at night,”

 

Hyungwon hummed in acknowledgment. “That’s quite unique,” he said. “How did you guys know about this place?”

 

“The owner commissioned me a while ago for that sunflower painting,” Minhyuk raised his chin towards the wall direction. “He invited Changkyun and me for a dinner a month ago and his food is so delicious that we decided to become a regular here,”

 

“Sorry for taking such a long time!” a voice interrupts their conversation. “Oh, I see a new face here,”

 

Hyungwon looks up from his menu, and standing in front of him is the prettiest man he ever saw in his life. He knows that he might be exaggerating--although the man is indeed gorgeous--but it’s quite hard to think straight when his heart is doing a somersault. 

 

The unknown man wears a black apron with a sleeping Gudetama picture printed on it, and he flashes them a friendly smile. Hyungwon feels like he was struck by a flash of invisible lightning instead.

 

“Hyungwon, meet Kihyun. He’s the owner of this place,” Minhyuk said. “Kihyun, this is my friend, Hyungwon. He’s a reporter at the newspaper company down the street,” 

 

“Oh, Starship Daily? I read them every day,” Kihyun grinned at them. 

 

“R-really?” Hyungwon mentally slaps himself for stuttering.

 

“Yeah! I subscribe to your newspaper. Which desks are you covered?”

 

“Uh, feature,” Hyungwon answered nervously.

 

“I don’t remember who the writer is, but last month there was an article about Machu Pichu in the feature column and I love it so much,”

 

“Well, I’m the one who wrote it,” 

 

Kihyun’s face lits up. “You’re a really good writer, you know?”

 

Hyungwon gulps. “Thank you so much. Glad to know you enjoyed it.”

 

Minhyuk flashes him a mischievous smile, but Kihyun opens his mouth before he can say anything.

 

“So, what can I get you guys?” he flipped out his notepad. When Hyungwon takes a closer look it also has Gudetama on the cover. Hyungwon finds it very endearing.

 

“The usual for me,” Minhyuk replied. 

 

“You know what, Kihyun. I’ll have what he’s having,” Changkyun said without looking up from his menu book.

 

“You don’t even like it,” Minhyuk looked at him with an amused stare.

 

“It’s time for me to try,” Changkyun simply stated.

 

“Okay then, lovebirds,” Kihyun chuckled while writing down their orders on his notepad. “How about you?” he turns to Hyungwon.

 

“Um,” Hyungwon flipping through the menu pages. “I’ll have the special menu please,” he said. 

 

Kihyun nodded. “So, what do you want to eat?”

 

“Uh, I just said I’ll have the special menu,” Hyungwon repeated his answer unsurely.

 

KIhyun giggles. “Oh, sorry. I forgot to say this, but you can ask me to cook whatever you want if you choose the special menu,”

 

“I can do that?” Hyungwon’s eyes widened. “We can do that?” he turns to Minhyuk, who looks as confused as he is.

 

“Yeah. As long as it’s Korean or Japanese dishes because those are my specialties,” 

 

“Alright then,” Hyungwon tapped on his chin. “I’ll have an omurice, please.”

 

“Good choice. I miss making those,” he wrote down his order. “Two Minhyuk’s special, and omurice coming up,” 

“Did he just named the menu after you?” Hyungwon asked Minhyuk after Kihyun walked out to the kitchen.

 

“Yeah. Isn’t he the coolest?” Minhyuk grins.

 

“What are you ordering anyway?” 

 

Minhyuk smirked. “You are about to find out real soon,”

 

****

 

Minhyuk’s order turns out to be a bowl of spicy ramyeon with melted cheese topping. Hyungwon almost sneezed from the sharp scent coming from the broth.

 

“I hate you,” Changkyun looked at his spicy ramyeon, and then at Minhyuk with a betrayed expression. “I really, really, hate you. And I regret this. I should’ve just ordered the usual bibimbap instead,”

 

“I never asked you to order the same thing as me!” Minhyuk said in a disbelief tone.

 

“I know,” Changkyun reached his chopstick. “But I still hate you for this. Also, you need to eat more vegetables. There are only beef and cheese in this noodle, babe.”

 

Minhyuk comically rolled his eyes in response and Changkyun shoved him gently. Hyungwon just smiles and shook his head at their exchange.

 

His food, on the other hand, looks very pleasing. Hyungwon doesn’t really eat omurice that much to conclude it as his favorite food, but the way he presented the food is really aesthetically pleasing. Unlike the usual omurice, Kihyun put the omelet on top of the rice instead of covering it. He specifically asked Hyungwon to slice open the omelet in the middle before eating it. 

 

Hyungwon slice the fluffy omelet with his spoon. A demi-glace sauce poured from the omelet and the egg falls down to cover his fried rice. He scooped the spoon inside the fried rice and savoring the taste slowly.

 

It’s so good. So delicious, that Hyungwon almost cried upon eating it. The egg, albeit only half-cooked, feels so fluffy on his tongue, and the demi-glace sauce complements it perfectly. The fried rice is not too oily, and not too dry either, and Hyungwon can feel the gentle taste of the spices on his tongue.

 

“Wow. That looks so good,” Changkyun said.

 

“It is,” Hyungwon offered his plate to his friends. “You wanna try some?”

 

“Sure,” Changkyun took Hyungwon’s spoon from his plate and took out a little bit of rice and eggs. “Oh. Oh my god. It’s so delicious. Minhyuk, you have to try it,”

 

“Can’t,” Minhyuk slurped his ramyeon noisily. “I have to eat this ramyeon and yours too since you can’t handle spicy food,”

 

“I love you,” he blows out a kiss to Minhyuk who is struggling to finish their ramyeon. “It’s so good. I don’t know what else to say,”

 

“Do you want some more?” 

 

“No, I’m good. It’s your food anyway,” he returned the spoon to Hyungwon. “I’m gonna be a responsible boyfriend and help Minhyuk with our ramyeon,”

 

“You mean  _ I  _ helped you,” Minhyuk grumbled. “And no. I don’t want you to upset your stomach,”

 

Changkyun looked at him with a fond expression. “Let me have the cheese at least,” he picked on the melted cheese with his chopstick. This time, Minhyuk didn’t stop him.

 

Hyungwon looked at the couple with a slight bit of jealousy. He chewed on his food again, and within a second, his jealousy quickly dissipates and his chest is filled with warmth.

 

****

“It’s on the house,” Kihyun said when Minhyuk handed him the money.

 

“What do you mean it’s on the house,” Minhyuk put the money on top of the register counter. “We ate a lot. Take it,”

 

“Nah,” Kihyun slides the money back to Minhyuk. “Keep it. Consider it as an incentive for Hyungwon to become a regular here as well,” he winked at him. Hyungwon can feel the blush creeping up on his face.

 

“Are you sure--”

 

“Yes, Minhyuk. 100 percent sure. Keep your money,” 

 

“Well, if you insisted,” Minhyuk put back his money on his wallet. “Thank you so much for this.”

 

“You’re welcome,” he smiled. “Hope I will see you guys here again tomorrow,” he waved at them.

 

Hyungwon politely nodded at him and followed Minhyuk and Changkyun when they stepped out to the restaurant. Just a few meters before they arrived at the station, Hyungwon stopped abruptly, making his friends looked at him with a concerned expression.

 

“Are you okay?” Minhyuk asked. “Did you left something?”

 

“Yeah,” Hyungwon said. “Uh, I think I just left my wallet. You guys just go ahead. I will text you guys later,”

 

“Do you need us to come with you?”   
  


“No. It’s okay. Bye! Have a safe trip!” Hyungwon said quickly and running back to the restaurant, ignoring the confused look on his friends’ face.

 

When he returned to the restaurant, Kihyun is serving another patron. He quirked his eyebrows when he saw Hyungwon loitering at the doorway.

 

“Welcome back,” he said. “Did you left anything?”

 

“No, I didn't,” Hyungwon starts feeling anxious. Kihyun just looked at him patiently, waiting for him to say something.

 

Hyungwon lets out a nervous sigh.  “I really enjoyed your cooking today. It’s really delicious, so delicious that it moved me. I’m sorry that I told you this earlier, but you’re a really great chef. Thank you so much,”

 

Kihyun didn’t say anything and just looked at him with widened eyes. Embarrassment starts to wash him.  “Ugh, I’m so weird. This is so weird. I’m so sorry. Okay. I’ll go now,” he turns his body, but Kihyun holds his arm.

 

“Wait! Don’t say that,” Kihyun lets out the grip on his arm when he stayed in his place. 

 

“I’m sorry, I just don't know how to process it. Thank you so much. Usually I never had a patron walking all the way back to my place to say thank you,” 

 

“You deserve it,” Hyungwon said. 

 

“Thank you,” Kihyun beamed at him. “I really appreciate it,”

 

This time, Hyungwon looked at his face and returned his smile with a bright smile of his own.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my very first time writing fic for this pairing. English is not my first language so I'm very sorry if there are any grammatical errors. Also, Kihyun's omurice description is based on the legendary Kichi-Kichi's omurice, in case you wanna know what it looks like. Thank you for reading and please leave some kudos or comments if you like!


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